Point Lynas on the first day after a couple of hours tidal planning and after moments of being on we saw two small pods of Dolphins 200mt out, slowly feeding in the last of the flood tide. We moved past the point and work on contact tows, single in line, rafted tandem and rafted assisted. before landing for some lunch.
As the current had now turned we headed back talking about leadership positioning and a few set tasks in the flow were set. Nubu, above having ago with a balance exercise, round the world before executing a smooth a re-entry and roll.
Tidal planning home work was given and the Sunday saw us driving to Porth Dafach to paddle the Stacks. It could have been a good day in the summer ... a little fresher but a magic day. We worked the central channel with eddy turns, rolling, self rescue and assisted rescues. Then introduced towing someone out of the flow before assisting as an anchor, in holding an assisted rescue, from travelling further down the flow.
Bryan above paddling down the flow ...
Worked a fair bit about using the body to assist the turn, looking where you want to go, and not just with your head, using your shoulders as well.
Each person was then given a short navigation and leadership leg and some lovely rock hoping/close quartering was had ...
There was a super amount of razor bills and guillemot's, back on the rocks. 5 days previous there had only been a few, now they were rammed!
We ended up in Wen Zawn, a climbers paradise with a 90 mt slab, with classic rock climbs, such as the traverse called Dream of White Horses. We did some arch and cave exploring and easy gully extraction tasks (paddler stuck at the back and needing to be contact towed or towed out) and then a rocky landing. We were soon back on the water and heading up to North Stack, for a couple of eddy turns and then jumping on the ebbing tide, our conveyor belt, to assist us back to our starting point.
Jon above and South Stack lighthouse ...
Monday was due to be a little windier and so Rhoscolyn was our location. Again a couple of short leadership sections and this time each with a scenario to manage. One of the main points was the aim of keeping out of the task and using other group members, where possible.
The race at the end was on max flow, with the top being clearly 5 star conditions (2mt steep and explosive). But further down the race we had solid 4 star conditions, as seen with Nubu below
Jon on his leadership section and managing the end of a ferry glide (flow from left to right).
Nubu above in the 5 star conditions, enjoying himself and setting up for a successful roll ... very well done!
Bryan in the one above moving out into the flow ... we then paddled towards Rhoscolyn Head to look for a rocky landing. Each paddler managed them selves and as seen below, having now left the rocky island and self rescuing ... The White Eagle was open and the day finished off with some chart work and a journey plan before individual action planning ...
roger chandler
www.coastalspirit.com
info@coastalspirit.com
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